Recognizing and Timing Your Pawn Play | Climbing the Rating Ladder vs. 2289

In this continuation of the "Climbing the Rating Ladder" series I take on players of various ratings levels while pointing out typical mistakes and spots for improvement along the way (possibly my own!? :)). Here I commentate a 10+0 game against a player rated 2289 on Chess.com. Facing a fellow streamer's Bogo-Indian Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+), I achieve a mobile center and kingside pawn majority. The middlegame seems demarcated between play on opposing flanks, and moves 11-18 prove crucial for determining who will be faster in developing their pawn play.
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[@Alyssa_Zhu]

This analysis was super instructive!! Thanks for the game!

[@Sunsetjanice]

two of my favorite streamer play each other. can't ask for better.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thanks again for the game- good to see you in the comments! Everyone check out Alyssa's channel: www.twitch.tv/alyssazhu

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

@@andrewcosta2760 Bizarre comment, man. I'll leave it up because it's a good example of what not to say.

[@abee127]

​@andrewcosta2760 why would John want to marry someone who blunders her queen in such an obvious fashion?

[@andrewcosta2760]

I love how wholesome this channel is!

[@davidpeak6103]

By watching all of your videos, slowly, I am sometimes able to anticipate what you are about to do before you speak it. This says what a good teacher you are. Still have a lot to learn from you though. Keep up the good work! Dave from Ohio

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Much appreciated, Dave!

[@bradlupien2770]

Hi John! Just wanted to let you know that it’s still instructive. I compared my thought process to yours, analyzed the differences when I made a different decision, etc. We all love and appreciate you.

[@nickd5422]

Always great to see John’s thorough analysis 👍

[@xx3868]

Something i learnt early on as a low ranked player, is dont send you queen alone for a "drive in the country" hoping it will snag something. John keeps his queen under the pawns and moves it up like a brick wall and stays coordinated. That queen takes Pawn disaster basically loses you the game right there. She resigned and at 2200. i would have though she had faced this situation many times as one bitten twice shy!!

[@stardust4001]

I would be fist pumping the air if my opponent blunders a queen. Was really impressed how calculating you were in the moment and considered all sorts of counter play. Learnt alot

[@Jake_Cotumaccio]

Alyssa's stream: www.twitch.tv/videos/1866038088 starting at 2:05:34 TL;DR: Classic case of "play the board, not the player." Before the Qxa2 blunder she was really only looking at the potential for John to go e6 or f6. She was calculating her response to those and played Qxa2 sort of as a waiting move because she was (ironically) afraid of making a slight inaccuracy. She was so preoccupied with John's plans because he's an IM- I don't think she makes that mistake against an untitled player.

[@Matematikervildtsjov]

Thanks for the link! It's awesome to see the game from the other side, and your comments on why she overlooked the queen trap are on point! Also, so funny to see her dread when she realized who her opponent was lol!

[@anslicht4487]

Interesting, because I was wondering how such a high-rated player could make a move that even I (as maybe 1100) could see was very dangerous if not fatal. And because she didn't do it quickly, it appeared from this end that she had given the move some thought.

[@SaintD382]

I was thinking along similar lines: she was so preoccupied with John's e6/f6 push that she decided to play a "waiting move" and let him push, but she completely forgot the a2-pawn was poisoned.

[@anttt7993]

How could someone with that rating play such a lame move? Going after a meaningless pawn while clearly there is an advance on a weak king.

[@peter_zamunda]

I literally left the hub after this notification came by. Let me enjoy this.

[@joallen2004]

You played my fav streamer! 😁

[@TheBuddhaBilly]

That was very fluent again :). I found it to be a pretty strange queen blunder for a player rated that high. The following tempo moves on the queen shouldn't have come as a surprise to the black player? But like you said in a previous video, it's the precise moves and decisions that build up to a winning advantage. GG!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thanks, Billy!

[@abbe23456789]

Love all the uploads recently John! When do we get to see you play Titled Tuesday again?

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thank you. I will try and play Titled Tuesdays once my voice fully recovers.

[@goodspellr1057]

If I interpret an engine evaluation of X correctly, it is sort of saying "from this position, White's probability of winning is the same as if the game started with White having a material advantage of X, assuming that White and Black are both played with the precision of the evaluating engine". It seems like that would be a very sensitive (i.e., borderline numerically unstable) function, especially as engines get more advanced. For example, if a +1 advantage is a certain victory for an engine even against itself, then it can't really tell the difference between a +1 advantage and a +10 advantage. That might be what's going on here with the difference in engine evaluations across platforms.

[@andrewcosta2760]

John, the greatest natty player of all time.

[@ahmadburhanhabibi]

Anyone have the link for the other streamers perspective?

[@kevinlee983]

the opponent was also streamer? how would you know?

[@diagonalizableable]

Not the whole thing, but a clip from the game clips.twitch.tv/SpinelessFreezingLaptopTBCheesePull-cjBoO7fWUJ2-OdlI

[@ettolrach]

​@@kevinlee983Did you even watch the video? >.> He points out that his opponent was streaming the game

[@diedemink2]

Probably she won’t publish game in youtube. Maybe only live on twitch?

[@Jake_Cotumaccio]

Just commented but it's here: www.twitch.tv/videos/1866038088 starting at 2:05:34

[@Leejungwoo48]

Out of curiosity, how difficult would you find it to defeat Chess experts in general John? Are they very difficult? Or can you afford to play a bit off and still win? Or are they reasonably easy for you? Or how difficult are chess experts for IMs generally? Thanks.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Chess experts, as in what level? For example, 2000 USCF is considered "Expert," and that's a very good player who I could lose against if I blundered or played a lazy game. But, I'd expect to win 90%+ of the time.

[@Leejungwoo48]

@@JohnBartholomewChess yes 2000-2199 uscf. Thanks for the response. Yes I was just wondering, in general how much IMs would have to exert against chess experts.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

@@Leejungwoo48 It requires some exertion, yes. For example, against a 1700-1800 I can play solidly and wait for my opponent to blunder if I want (as happens in many CTRL games), but 2000-2200 will probably some degree of active outplaying.

[@walterbrownstone8017]

There's a whole lot of d4 openings but I only see it from the black side. As you said in your excellent post game analysis, the Bogo Indian is like the Sicilian Moscow variation, which I played for a while when I was a few hundred rating lower than I am now. But as black you probably would have allowed me to play the QGD Ragozin or if I was feeling really lucky you may have even let me transpose into my favorite opening, the Caro Kann Panov attack.

[@talentedgambler7327]

That’s a crazy blunder for a 2300

[@wkgates]

I've never been a streamer, but I can imagine there are moments when you are distracted.

[@kova-111]

It wasn’t that obvious. John recognizing the trap casually within seconds just makes it look simple

[@stvia]

​@@kova-111yeah but made it obvious that somethings going on since he quickly confindently played without protecting the pawn. That usually is a good indication that its poisonous and knowing that it's very easy to find Johns moves

[@samt7676]

⁠@@stviaI mean like John said before the blunder happened maybe she thought he was sacrificing his pawn for initiative. Even in that position if there was no trap it would be beneficial to drop that pawn and continue with the kingside attack

[@vladimirsadykov88]

Nemo can blunder occasionally. I remember her epic blunder of a knight to queen’s fork on king and knight in Ponziani against Eric Rosen. It was very instructional, and I have trapped my opponents a dozen times like that :-)

[@postyoda1623]

4:00 I was thinking Bc2, here and after Bxf1, Rxf1, Qf5 forcing g6 and a compromise in king safety, with the knight clearing the way for f pawn in mind and activating the rook later.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Interesting, but looks unnecessarily risky to me

[@Heroball299]

Hi John, do you remember where you learnt about the 2 points of conduct pawn technique. I mean, is it mentioned in a famous book or something? I'd like to learn more about it.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Hello! I don't - the "two points of contact" framing is something I'm pretty sure I came up with myself. But the idea is pretty common in discussions of pawn breaks.

[@DeathEaterLink]

Does anyone know if twitch has a delay in uploading recent Vods? Or is this game available from the female streamers perspective?

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Many Twitch creators choose not to post their VODs right away. I believe it's a setting they can tweak - Alyssa's video is up on her Twitch channel now, fyi.

[@goldenlion3184]

It seems these one move blunders happen when John puts his opponent in a bound-up stressful situation.... It's not random that players stress out and make mistakes!

[@obiarnold9498]

When will you resume Sunday Lichess plays?

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

No timeline; I want to get back to full vocal health before I try to return.

[@bbbrown3408]

took a while to play a simple instant losing move?? cannot understand that

[@anttt7993]

Opponent played rather amateurishly. Especially going after that useless pawn while you're clearly advancing on a weak king.

[@westofwahpeton4692]

I so look forward to having all the chores done, kids in bed and just turn on these videos. Spend some time learning with JB! Also I should spend time playing my own games but… 🫤